Jeffrey Baldwin’s mother fails to show for testimony at starvation death inquest

The mother of a 5-year-old Toronto boy who died of starvation while in the care of his grandparents did not show up to testify at the coroner’s inquest into his death.

Yvonne Kidman was supposed to testify Tuesday at the inquest into her son Jeffrey Baldwin’s death but she did not appear, so the inquest was cancelled for the day.

Coroner’s counsel Jill Witkin told the jury that victim-witness workers would help try to ensure Kidman is there Wednesday, but if not the inquest will still go ahead with other witnesses.

Kidman and her husband Richard Baldwin lost custody of four of their children to her parents, Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman.

The grandparents were given custody — first by children’s aid societies then permanently by the courts — as no one turned up files on their previous child abuse convictions until after Jeffrey’s death.

Jeffrey was locked for long stretches of time in a foul, cold bedroom and eventually starved to death, weighing about the same at almost 6 years old as he did on his first birthday.